Combined cognitive and parent training interventions for adolescents with ADHD and their mothers: A randomized controlled trial

This study examined the individual and combined effects of two nonpharmacological treatments for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Cogmed working memory training (CWMT) for adolescents and behavioral parent training (BPT) for mothers. Ninety-one adolescents (ages 11–15) and their mothers were randomized to one of four CWMT and BPT treatment and active control (placebo) group combinations of 5-week interventions. At pre- and posttest, mothers and teachers completed rating forms, and adolescents completed neuropsychological measures of working memory (WM). Individual intervention effects showed that treatment CWMT significantly improved WM spans, whereas there were no significant differences for treatment or control BPT on reports of parent-related outcomes. Combined treatment effects indicated an overall pattern of greatest improvements for the control CWMT/treatment BPT group, as compared to the other three groups, on adolescent WM deficit, behavioral regulation problems, and global executive deficit. Most significant effects for outcomes were main effects of improvements over time. A combination of CWMT and BPT did not result in increased treatment gains. However, potential effects of combined treatment may have been masked by greater perceived benefits arising from lack of struggle in the nonadaptive, CWMT active control condition. Future combined intervention research should focus on specific, theoretically driven WM deficits among individuals with ADHD, should include possible adaptations to the standard CWMT program, should examine effectiveness of cognitive treatments combined with contextual interventions and should utilize appropriate control groups to fully understand the unique and combined effects of interventions.     

A Brief Report on the Assessment of Distress Tolerance: Are We Measuring the Same Construct?

Distress tolerance (DT) refers to an individual’s capacity to cope with aversive internal (e.g., physical, cognitive, emotional) states. A growing body of evidence suggests that there is a relationship between DT and the development and maintenance of problematic behavioral patterns. Despite emerging evidence for such associations, a number of issues remain unresolved. The results of recent studies suggest problems with the convergent validity of the primary measures used to assess DT, despite the fact that these measures are used interchangeably in the DT literature. In order to further examine the relationships among DT assessments, we evaluated intercorrelations among various self-report and behavioral measures of DT in an unselected undergraduate sample (n = 83). Results indicate that two self-report measures of DT were highly correlated with one another, but that neither measure was significantly correlated with the behavioral measures. The relationships among the behavioral measures and between self-report and behavioral measures were weak and non-significant. Correlations between self-report measures only were strong. The findings partially replicate prior research indicating weak correlations between certain, commonly used measures of DT, and raise questions about the current conceptualization of the construct.     

Cognitive penetrability,context, and aesthetics: Nanay and Danto on the Gallery of Indiscernibles

Nanay has recently argued, on the basis of the cognitive penetrability of experience, that the attribution of aesthetically relevant properties (ARPs) supervenes on perceptual experience. I argue that this claim is false as stated and cannot be salvaged. I provide a series of thought experiments as counterexamples, showing that the title of an artwork can influence its ARPs, its meaning or value, and the accurate attributions of ARPs while the character of the perceptual experience of the piece remains constant. I introduce the notions of context and appropriate context, and I argue that ARPs supervene on observable properties and appropriate contexts; there is no difference in ARPs without a difference in appropriate context or a difference in observable properties. Two paintings may share all of their observable properties and all of their context-relative perceptual properties but be ARP distinct, since each has a different appropriate context, and contexts are not usually determined or instantiated by perceptual properties.     

The Role of the Black Church in HIV Prevention: Exploring Barriers and Best Practices

Black people have the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the USA, and they are less likely to access quality physical and mental healthcare. To address these disparities as outlined in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, there is a need for culturally congruent, innovative approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention. The first multi‐denominational national study of Black faith leaders was conducted utilizing focus groups that were held in 11 US cities. The 265 participants were faith leaders who reported involvement in such prevention practices as sponsoring HIV/AIDS workshops, integrating HIV/AIDS messaging in the worship service, hosting HIV/AIDS screenings, distributing written materials about HIV/AIDS through the bulletin or flyers, pastoral counselling, advocating for policies that provide quality healthcare to the community and disseminating HIV/AIDS prevention messages through new media such as the Church website. These findings, including attention to barriers to engagement, provide insight into innovative practices that can be integrated into faith‐based HIV/AIDS prevention programming. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective scanpath repetition during memory-guided visual search

Visual search efficiency improves with repetition of a search display, yet the mechanisms behind these processing gains remain unclear. According to Scanpath Theory, memory retrieval is mediated by repetition of the pattern of eye movements or “scanpath” elicited during stimulus encoding. Using this framework, we tested the prediction that scanpath recapitulation reflects relational memory guidance during repeated search events. Younger and older subjects were instructed to find changing targets within flickering naturalistic scenes. Search efficiency (search time, number of fixations, fixation duration) and scanpath similarity (repetition) were compared across age groups for novel (V1) and repeated (V2) search events. Younger adults outperformed older adults on all efficiency measures at both V1 and V2, while the search time benefit for repeated viewing (V1–V2) did not differ by age. Fixation-binned scanpath similarity analyses revealed repetition of initial and final (but not middle) V1 fixations at V2, with older adults repeating more initial V1 fixations than young adults. In young adults only, early scanpath similarity correlated negatively with search time at test, indicating increased efficiency, whereas the similarity of V2 fixations to middle V1 fixations predicted poor search performance. We conclude that scanpath compression mediates increased search efficiency by selectively recapitulating encoding fixations that provide goal-relevant input. Extending Scanpath Theory, results suggest that scanpath repetition varies as a function of time and memory integrity.     

Personality And Leadership Composition in Top Management Teams: Implications For Organizational Effectiveness

This study examines whether top management team (TMT) personality and leadership are associated with organizational effectiveness beyond the effects of CEO personality and leadership, as suggested by upper echelons theory. Using direct measures of personality and leadership, rather than proxy variables from archival sources or demographic data, we found that mean levels of conscientiousness among TMT members were related to lagged indicators of organizational performance, as were CEO conscientiousness and transformational leadership. Follower commitment to the organization was found to be associated with higher levels of transformational leadership from both the CEO and TMT. The results are consistent with the upper echelons perspective that organizational effectiveness is influenced not only by the CEO but also by a dominant coalition of leaders. Yet, the results also show that the CEO plays a distinct role in influencing organizational financial performance and collective organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Field Experiments in Religion: A Dream Whose Time Has Come

Field experiments offer powerful tests of causality in real‐world settings. They have high validity—both internal and external—and require smaller inferential leaps than observational or laboratory methods. Nonetheless, they are rarely applied to religion. This article advocates for the frequent use of field experiments in the study of religion. It reviews their methodological advantages, and it identifies various ways that religion can be incorporated into a field experiment design. It proposes multiple strategies for creating feasible, ethical religion field experiments as well as optimizing them. Ultimately, field experiments have the potential to transform the study of religion.     

The effects of a wisdom intervention in a Christian congregation*

Psychological research on the topic of wisdom is limited in its incorporation of religion and spirituality. This gap in psychological literature may serve to limit a thorough understanding of wisdom. Positive psychology may allow for some rapprochement in wisdom and spirituality. In collaboration with leaders of a local Friends (Quaker) congregation, two studies investigated the effects of a spiritually informed wisdom intervention delivered in the context of a faith community. Participants for Study 1 consisted of 27 young adults (24 completed both the pre and post questionnaire) and a comparison group consisting of 32 young adults. The intervention was designed to increase participants’ abilities in cognitive, affective and moral domains. Significant group by time interaction effects were found among measurements of practical wisdom, post-formal thinking and subjective well-being, with those in the experimental group showing changes in the expected direction. Study 2 involved qualitative analyses of interviews with 15 of the wisdom participants regarding their changing views of wisdom. Themes emerging from the interviews included a multiple-perspectives view of wisdom, the relational nature of learning wisdom, the importance of taking a reflective perspective, and congruence between what one knows and how one lives. Implications for studying wisdom alongside religion and spirituality are considered.     

Coming Attractions: Parental Mediation Responses to Transgender and Cisgender Film Trailer Content Targeting Adolescents

Adolescents increasingly rely on media for socialization and identity development, and marketing plays a prominent role in this dynamic. Film trailers are one form of advertising that children actively seek out and attend to in their exploration of media. However, little attention has been paid to these advertisements’ gendered narratives and parents’ responses to them. The present study examines parents’ mediation responses to film trailers that promote themes of gender development and are aimed at adolescents. Respondents viewed a trailer that featured either a cisgender or transgender coming-of-age story and responded to cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal survey measures. Results identified both parent and child factors that influence parents’ mediation intentions and support for censorship. Practical implications in parenting, gender development, and marketing are further discussed.